8/5/08

tao lin: 'is he a fraud,' 'is he a malicious person,' 'can he be trusted,' and 'does he lie to people to gain free cash,' 'the official post'

if anyone has been 'frauded' by me or had something 'malicious' done to them by me please comment in the comments section of this post concrete details of what happened, 'if you don't lie about it that would be good'

if anyone has given me money for goods or services and then not received those goods or services please comment in the comments section of this post concrete details of what happened, 'if you don't lie about it that would be good'

if anyone can 'vouch' for me being 'a trustworthy, not malicious person' who 'does what he says in terms of cash, goods, and services' please comment in the comments section of this post concrete details of your experience with me

this post will be useful to me in the future because i can direct all 'shit-talkers' or people who aren't sure if i'm 'a fraud' 'or not' to this post 'with one easy hyperlink'

someone has been typing the same 'shit-talking' things about me and my parents (some of the things are true, like that i have shoplifted and that my dad has been to jail; but other things are not true like that i sold books and then did not mail them, that i 'trashed' the editor of pindeldyboz, that my parents 'escaped' to taiwan, that i have 'never worked a day in my life,' that i 'tried again and again without success to get publishing contracts and the best he can do apparently is a small firm,' etc.) using different names, including 'tao lin,' in many different places (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), i am 98% sure it is one person and that it is the same person who has been typing similar comments for 2-4 years

i would like to be able to go to those posts (and future posts where that person will probably post similar comments) and 'just post a link to this post'

about 80% of the time when i am getting shit-talked i think 'i really like coconut water' or 'haha' or 'i am getting shit-talked' or 'kombucha bitches unite' or something, but this time the shit-talking was really intense (and caused people to actually distrust me) and i thought something like 'wow, i wonder if this can really defeat me, will i be defeated by this person, will shit-talking finally prevail? is this the person who will actually destroy my career? maybe, but if this person destroys my career by shit-talking that will be funny and "worth it," "what difference does it make" if i have a career or not, i was probably happiest when i was 12 or 13 playing computer games and taking baths while eating wendy's chicken sandwiches and drinking 20-40 ounces of mr. pibb instead of having a career and a blog and statcounter and bookscan; it would be really funny if i was actually destroyed by shit-talking, this person is working so hard, maybe they deserve to prevail over me, it would also be original or something if a hard-working shit-talker won and was happy for winning' someone told me the person was like 'the joker' from 'the dark knight'

i thought that for a while and then earlier today i wanted to make a blog post inviting that person to 'guest blog' on this blog for one post so that all that person's shit-talking about me and my parents could be consolidated into one giant shit-talking post; it would probably be the largest, most intense collection of 'anti-tao lin propaganda' on the internet; i would probably feel excited about life having that on my blog, but now i have this plan to try to 'defeat' the person with many 'testimonials' about my actions in concrete reality

i think either way would be okay

if someone hates me so much that they attack my physical manifestation in the universe while screaming that my gimmicks aren't funny and my books do not have good prose and i lack 'deep formal construction' in my writings and that my dad has been to jail, and hit me a lot, and end up killing me, i would be okay with that, i honestly would be okay with that i think

if a lot of people 'actually band together' to 'defeat' an out of control 'shit-talking entity' i would also be okay with that

right now with this post i want to 'try' the second one (people 'banding together')

(though if the person still wants to 'guest blog' for one post i want to do that also i think, please email me)

if this post succeeds i will be able to paste this post's hyperlink into emails or blogs in any situation where someone isn't sure about me as a person, 'it will be very convenient'

if the 'shit-talking entity' works really hard and creates 100 blogger accounts they could probably still defeat me a lot by in this post, i'm okay with that, if that happens it will be really funny to me and i feel like i would 'have no choice but to accept that i have been defeated, that people will no longer buy my books, that respectable magazines will no longer write about me and barnes and noble will no longer stock my books'

thank you for your time and consideration

please post your experiences with 'tao lin' in the comments section

if you want to use abstractions and say things about my life without using concrete details or talk shit about my books i guess that is also okay; yes, that is also okay; i just want this post to be 'the definitive "shit-talking against tao lin" / "defending tao lin" / "concrete experiences with tao lin regarding if he is malicious or not" / "can i trust tao lin in a business deal" / "should i spend money on a tao lin book" / "what do tao lin-haters and shit-talkers think in detail about tao lin" post' that can conveniently be used from now on as 'the go-to post' whenever anyone wants to know anything about 'tao lin' that can't be known from this post or wikipedia

this post should become known as 'tao lin's other wikipedia page' by having comprehensive information about 'tao lin' that cannot be found on wikipedia including shit-talking, opinions, judgements, rumors, speculation, anecdotes, etc., if you know anyone who does not like me or my books please tell them to come here to talk shit about me and argue with people, there should be a lot of fighting and sometimes an oscar wilde quote, the words 'gimmick' and 'persona' and 'shallow' should appear frequently in certain paragraphs, someone should repeatedly quote someone else adding '[sic]' many times to the quote, the phrase 'typographical error' should be used in a 'damning' tone, two separate people who previously used the terms 'pretentious shit' and 'anti-cliche cliche' should then 'simply quote' 'in whole' rainer maria wilke's poem about the statue and put the last sentence ('you must change your life') in bold

i feel 'good' about this post partly because i feel it has potential to be 'one of the greatest shit-talking events in internet lit-blogging history' due to the intense, hard-working, and anonymous nature of the 'shit-talker' mentioned above and the current 'mad hits' i am getting from various lit sites about investing in my second novel; i also do really want to have a comprehensive post that i can refer people to in the future, i encourage people to say anything they have to say

lol, DAYUMN! I just read some of the comments on that freakonomics blog and man youz got some mad haterz after yo' ass! LOL!Its kind of funny if you look at it in a detached way isnt it, even though it is about you?Imagine it is being said about someone like Dave Eggers instead. Isn't it amusing in the new light?

Is what "Nita" posted really true? That's messed up man if it is.

But if it helps, Dave Eggers is also overrated. I'd even call him a hack. TTB, though... Now there's the real shit. That man gonna win the pulitzer prize. fuck toni morrison. TTB is the best writer awards will ever know.

i have bought items from tao, i preordered books and tshirts, all of them came when they were produced, i never felt worried or concerned that i wasnt gonna get my shit. this is at least 2 transactions, maybe more, i can't remember.

i have also traded books with tao several times, agreements we entered via email, i sent books to him before i got any books, i got the books in 3-5 days each time, sometimes with extra stuff.

another time i went in a cab with tao and a group of people and i said i was paying for everyone and got my money out and tao still put money on my lap as if to pay even though i had said i was going to pay, i made him take it back, if he was a 'defrauder' i don't think he would have tried to offer, most defrauders i know in a position of group payment will look out a window or try to distract their attention in a viable way so you could justify in your mind they didnt realize they weren't paying, tao didnt do that.

i trust tao, regardless of rumors as to his family's past, i know lots of people who have people in their families who have done things and it didn't reflect on them as a person, in fact they often went out of their way to make sure they were not associated with that reputation.

people are loud and obnoxious when someone else gets attention, and at first i did not want to be serious in response to these posts, i am 'for' shit talking, but these threads are really a bit too much and not in good spirits.

tao was the first friend i made in new york when i moved here a year ago. i ended up at a dinner with him and some other people and he sat across the table from me, flicking little pieces of napkin at me, not really saying anything at all. we, for some reason, decided to hang out shortly after that. we enjoyed each other. after that months went by with seeing each other frequently and then not at all for long periods of time. always tao has been sweet, really really sweet to me. i get horribly depressed often and make very bad decisions and tao was the only person in my life to text me to ask me about how i was or how a job interview or how a sexual experience was regularly.

tao is a 'good person.' i dont know how to express it other than if tao was not in my life im sure i would have drank myself to death by now.

tao reads my journals on a regular basis and has never judged me and even went so far as to be the first person to tell me i should pursue publishing them.

also, when people send me things in the mail such as books and chapbooks tao always gives me one of his books to send them because i have nothing in print personally to send them and i cannot deal with the guilt of accepting something for free.

these are only a few things i feel like saying publicly about how much tao has done for me. i feel incredibly angry when people attack tao via his family's decisions/history. decision making is not hereditary.

I became friends with Tao Lin on a month and a half trip to Brooklyn and he's one of the most golden people I've met in a while.

We were at a bar that gives a pizza free ticket to everyone who buys a beer, the Alligator Lounge, but I wasn't hungry and just wanted the beer. He said he'd eat the free pizza since I didn't want it then put money in my hand anyway.

He's always had the last word on text messages in a way that felt like he didn't want to leave people hanging, or that he got the message.

Tao's walked me many blocks home before when I've been too drunk to see straight after parties, without trying to hold my hand or touch my butt or jack me in an alley somewhere.

He's always been on time, polite, empathetic, nonjudgmental, calm and patient. A rad gentleman.

It sucks to see such a sweet guy get attacked. Seriously. Bullies are gross, pitiful creatures. Attention parasite bullies attacking kittens with machetes, or some other stupid thing like that. Poor Tao. I'm sorry this is happening. xo

I don't know Tao Lin and I cannot yet afford to buy any of his books but it totally trust him. If i had money i would totally have tried to buy a share in his next book without even thinking about it. I think he is a bit proacive if he were an untrustworthy person.

in the time that i have known tao he has agreed to send me each of his books and has done so without fail. one of those books was damaged somewhere en route from him to me, but i do not hold him responsible for it.

he once sent me an envelope containing stickers and by the time i received it the envelope was damaged and there were no stickers inside. i explained this to tao and he sent more stickers.

i have ordered books from him on more than three occasions. I have paid in advance. I have received the items I paid for.

I ordered a drawing from him. I paid in advance and received the item.

I have seen tao lin in person on more than three occasions and he behaved in a way consistent with trustworthy people.

I have seen him make a number of promises on his blog and keep them... except for one time saying he will kill himself if he doesn't reach and hold the number one spot for his book.... but I might be wrong since I think he said when he reaches the number one spot, he'll kill himself after t falls off... and it might not have reached the number one spot, so I'm not sure on that one... but

overall...

tao lin is a man we can trust based on my observations an personal dealings and interactions etc etc etc

someone will obviously have to vouch for me to give added weight to my vouching for tao lin

i met Tao Lin twice when i visited New York for a week. he gave me books and let me sleep on his couch and use his shower (including soap and a towel). Tao Lin has offered to post me his books in the past, but i already had the books, and he also posted me a DVD of 'LOL'. i feel like Tao Lin has 'done a lot more' for me than i have for him, and like he isn't expecting anything from me in return. if Tao Lin was a movie i would review him using words like 'life affirming' and 'refreshing' probably.

more importantly, i think his writing is amazing, and i would still like it i think even if he was a 'defrauding asshole' or 'inconsistent' or whatever.

I once ordered two books from Tao Lin through PayPal and they came soon after via the US Postal Service, complete with hand drawings made by someone, most likely Tao Lin. However, shortly after receiving these books and reading them, there was a car accident outside of my apartment that took the life of a small deer. I can only help but make the connection.

Tao Lin has always been generous, funny, and warm in my dealings with him, both online and in person.

Examples of each-

1) GENEROUS: Instead of just rejecting me, Tao worked with me on a poem to publish in 3:AM, and finally ended up publishing something different than he wanted because he liked the way I rejected his ideas. Tao has let me sleep on his couch, made me smoothies, paid for my soup, and introduced me to many new friends. When someone asked Tao who should read with him at an upcoming reading, and I was standing off to the side, Tao pointed to me.

2) FUNNY: One time when we were walking to Tao's apartment, Tao said "Wouldn't it be funny if I closed the door and locked you out?" and we both laughed. Tao and I have had several amusing text message exchanges, probably around 23. Tao was enthusiastic about the idea of doing a BAD POETRY table at AWP, which will probably still happen. He always mails me things (on time) with funny pictures.

3) WARM: Tao left nice comments about my songs, even when they've shown up on other peoples' blogs. Tao wears very nice hoodies. In one email exchange when I was being cynical about someone I know who feeds homeless people at their church, Tao pointed out that I shouldn't be cynical because they were doing empirically measurable good.

Honestly, I don't know the legality of Tao's investment plan, but in terms of his credibility I vouch for him with all the earnestness I can muster.

i have never had the direct pleasure of meeting tao lin, but his poetry book "you are a little but happier than i am" saved my life. i think that makes you a pretty trustworthy & very good person.thank you ♥

I have known Tao and his friends since January. Tao is maybe the most sincere person in New York. He is honest in a truly startling way. Sometimes people don't get his sense of humor, and they feel like they're on the outside of a joke and that truly pisses some people off. But it shouldn't.

He's a really genuine human being and it's too bad that people attack a person because they don't understand that person.

Who is Tao Lin? Tao is a complex personality,as are most of the small breed of modern-day renaissance millionaires. Tao warned the South in his Inaugural Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it." Tao thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun. The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Tao had to struggle for a living and for learning. Five months before receiving his party's nomination for President, I sketched his life:

Tao was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. His parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps he should say. His mother, who died in his tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... His father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in his eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There he grew up.... Of course when he came of age he did not know much. Still somehow, he could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all.

Tao Lin is completely trustworthy, and very nice. He agreed to be interviewed in my magazine. He also sent me a copy of Bed for free, with several drawings. He writes warm and genuine emails. And I think his writing is exciting and vital. I would dearly like to meet him some day, and I have no doubt he would live up to and excel the good impression I have of his character so far.

i feel confident that if i paypaled $200 to tao lin, he would probably spend 98% of it on happy and healthy organic food to improve his mental, emotional, and physical state, i think that is a person i would trust

i found tao lin's blog and like the way he writes, so i ordered three of his books and used paypal to send him the money. he responded very promptly and politely to an email, told me exactly what he would send (the books plus stickers plus his drawings inside the books), and then he sent it. very simple, easy and pleasant.

the added stickers and the drawings made it even feel a little bit personal, which was warm and a nice surprise.

there are many people in my own family who have spent time in jail. this doesn't have anything to do with me or who i am. i don't see how such a thing can matter, other than to closed-minded and fearful idiots.

who, exactly, has never shoplifted? maybe jesus.

i trust tao lin and i don't know him at all. i feel oddly protective of him as well. my instincts are excellent and have always been such. there is no way tao is a malicious person.

I ordered books from Tao and he sent them. He's also sent me drawings and books from his collection just because he felt like it.

Tao stayed at my house one night, and even though he was allergic to my cat, he didn't complain or abuse or belittle the animal in any way.

If you invest in Tao's novel, he will do his part—he will finish it. And, as it must be clear to anyone with a familiarity with this blog, he will promote the heck out of it.

Most of the cut-and-paste shit-talking that has appeared on almost every blog that mentions Tao's "investment" idea comes from one person. One unstable person. One completely unstable, clearly obsessive person. One sad, lonely, completely unstable, clearly obsessive person.

you pre-ordered it a long time before it's release and when i sent it to you i sent it to your previous address, where you didn't live anymore, we talked about this in email, i said 'let me know' in my email regarding if it didn't get forwarded to you and you said it was 'no biggie' or i would have done something like resent it or something

i once bought a book from tao lin. he said it cost 14 dollars. i pay paled tao lin 14 dollars and in my email i asked for a drawing of a hamster in sunglasses to be done in my book. tao lin sent my book and he drew the hamster in sunglasses. he also drew some other hamsters and a squid. and he gave me approximately 15 britney spears stickers. aside from the book, all of this was free. tao lin is a very trustworthy person. in fact i would say tao lin is trustworthy and generous and treats people very well.At one point i couldn't afford tao lin's book, he said he would send me it for free. on another occasion he said he would send me britney spears stickers for free. i did not pursue these offers but if i did i'm sure tao lin would have followed through. i think it's wrong that this person is going about the internet saying rude things about tao lin. it's not very nice to ruin anyone's livelihood and try to take away the things they like to do, but especially not nice to do it to such a generous and trustworthy person such as tao lin.

Tao Lin let me sleep on his couch and made me a vegan smoothie. He also published one of my poems. He also said nice things to me when I was freaking out. He also sends me things sometimes. I am really thankful to have him as a friend.

Tao gave me free books and actual money after I did my "intern" work for him. I really hardly did anything, I think, but if someone is paying attention to the small things, I would say that it makes for an excellent writer/person.

i thought most or some of you thought i was either 'just a little bitch' or somehow just not good or something, good job everyone, thank you, this post will be used in certain situations in the future i think

since i posted my tao experience ive thought of two billion more sweet things tao has done for me and i feel frustrated that there is no way i can fit it all into one comment. i feel inspired to write a personal essay about tao.

also, i now feel less afraid and hurt from the people who harass me personally on my blog.

You will be a stockholder in "Tao Lin's Second Novel's U.S. Royalties Corporation."

"What he’s done is in violation of SEC rules. You can’t offer shares in a nonesxistent corporation to the general public without first going through the admittedly cumbersome process of filing the proper documents and making sure that you make the offer on paper ONLY to 'qualified investors.'

...It would behoove you to do some research before touting a scheme that is risky to investors, possibly totally fraudulent and certainly in violation of current federal securities investigations. It would be dangerous for any other writers to emulate him in this.

...A complaint has been filed with the SEC regarding this matter, including in it Melville House, Mr. Lin’s publisher, who has a contract for the novel in question. He, in fact, has gone behind their back to sell shares in his royalties paid for by them. Thus he has subjected them (with the firm’s assumed deeper pockets - if Mr. Lin is this desperate for money, he is obviously judgment-proof) to liability in this matter." [source]

"I can only assume Mr. Lim hasn’t bothered to register this offering with the SEC (typically a six-figure proposition). If I’m correct, Mr. Lim could only be operating under an exemption from registration, which generally require the offering to be restricted to those with whom the offeror (in this case, the author) has a substantive and pre-existing prior relationship. This means he can’t advertise the offering in a public forum (i.e. a blog). Also, unregistered shares (meaning shares offered wtihout the benefit of registration) generally are very restricted in their resale (by law). However, Mr. Lim’s blog assures potential investors there are no restrictions.

Accordingly, Mr. Lim appears to be offering shares without any regard for federal and state law applicable to this activity. In this respect, he’s on very dangerous ground. By handling this offering in such a sloppy fashion, Mr. Lim is essentially handing his future shareholders a free put. If they lose money, a smart plaintiff’s lawyer could easily get it back from Mr. Lim, as he appears to be violating every rule in the book." [source]

Tao Lin -- I have "no dog in this race," but I, too, believe that you have most likely run afoul of SEC (and various New York State) regulations. You should get some advice from someone in securities law. Seriously. Best of luck, however, with your writing career.

I’ve known Tao for a long time. We were kids, 13 years ago when we met. I even went inside his houses of “luxury.” Tao is happy and is a very hard worker. We worked together outside in the Florida summer and got very tired and sweaty. I think he may have even enjoyed the hard work.

When I bought art from Tao, he sent it before I paid, trusting that I would complete the deal. If Tao had a fan club in Florida, I’d be the president.

I won a drawing by Tao Lin on EBAY (still pissed that I missed the dream package that went for 85 bucks...totally missed it...which will skyrocket in value astronomically for whichever lucky Tao speculator got that!) and he sent it very promptly.

I am watching this drawing appreciate as I type this. I can see it from where I'm sitting.

It was prepared for shipment in a very professional manner and had a nice "thank you" inside, which all the classier EBAY sellers include.

He left courteous, thoughtful feedback.

His poetry has clearly made a big difference in many people's lives, as the comment chain witnesses. I think he has made literature interesting again for a LOT of people, and that's the sort of thing you can't put a monetary value on.

I know of nobody with any Tao Lin defraudment stories.

His stalker or stalkers is/are clearly scary people who should really be scared of this thing that is inside them (this hatred) but he or she or it or they will probably only achieve that when it's much, much too late.

Unless, Tao Lin has created the stalker...that would be very scary.

I think I've been reading about too many J.T. Leroys and Armistead Maupin imaginary authors and stalkers and suffering imaginary people lately.

I'm sure it's not Tao Lin. He clearly likes his dramas to be fun and not dark/threatening.

But this culture can make anyone paranoid.

Somebody cuts off my sunflowers every year as soon as they bloom.

I figured since I got downsized I would catch her or him at it...not that I was going to get in hand to hand combat with a person with garden shears in their hand, but just to give them a dirty look that would last for thirteen hours or so.

But they defeated me.

I got out of my car and this year he or she didn't even wait for them to bloom. They just cut them green and closed up. Now they will never bloom. They will just stay welded shut in sunflower gloom for all eternity.

I hope that person is happy.

I try to imagine a story where this person is bringing these flowers to her aging mother locked in a dark room who cannot see the sun, and that this year she had to hurry and harvest them unopened because her mother is finally leaving us for all time...and that she says "mother...here...the sunflowers.."

But it doesn't work.

I yelled "fucking bitch" when I got out of my car and saw them cut off again....just in case she has a screen door and could hear me.

She or he must have been really fast because I only ran to the liquor store and it's only seven blocks.

i had lost my job (i was making 100k a year), house foreclosed, car repossessed and i had recently stopped taking copious amounts of oxycontin and various other serious drugs. i was severely depressed and had just gambled away most of my money at the casino trying to make enough money for rent at my new apartment located in the shitty bario of santa ana.

i found a poem on 3am. i found tao's blog. i found tao's post.

tao's post said "email me if you are poor. i will send you a free book." or something similar.

i had become recently poor. i emailed him. he responded immediately.

i received the book complete with an illegal immigrant hamster and a skateboarding squid illustrations.

that book meant a lot.

and i am sure that almost every one who read the beginning of this comment has already judged me.

to ericb - nothing illegal about selling shares in future royalties... nothing but a one page contract needed (which doesnt even require a lawyer if he doesnt wany) to make it "legit" - usually have to put anything over 500 dollars in writing to make it hold for contract law... but an email would prob suffice for something of this value even...the buyer might want a contract to cover various things, like requiring tao to retain the 40% interest etc etc to ensure he's motivated to increase sales, or something... but it isn't the same as equity in a company, and doesnt need SEC filing certainly. rock on tao! hope you take care of your financial needs through your securitizing the royalties. cant wait to read the new novel

i have had 'dealings' with tao lin on and off this blog and i have no problem with him at all i even just the other day told him he could sleep on my or some friend of mine's couch if he ever comes to portland.

i don't fully 'get' the business of offering shares in his career and actually i've always thought that was mainly an andy warhol-style joke.

i think it's weird to have this controversial shit but maybe he's sort of provoked it i'm not sure but that's probably good because it makes him talked about.

and 'cult of personality' these days sells books.

i had a guy obsessed with me and stalk me (even looked up an old girlfriend of mine and seduced her just because i had talked about her to him with nostalgia or something) and he was the only person i ever thought might murder me or i might have to get him first.

I read a couple poems by Tao Lin in Jim Goar's webzine, Past Simple. I enjoyed the fresh voice and style. I contacted Tao for an interview for which he agreed. We first tried the interview on a gmail chat. Then we did one by e-mail. After that, Tao and I have corresponded on different occasions about his upcoming books. He sent me some drawings and books, and I sent gifts in return.

I find Tao to be a wonderful writer, artist, and supporter of the arts. I appreciate him and look forward to the things he will do.

i just have to add in. because i trust you. you sent me an awesome package once and you didn't even have to because all i wanted was your poetry book. so whatever people have to say about you thats completely negative, i don't believe it.

i am always singing your praises and telling people to read your novels. i don't know you personally so i can't speak of your nature and how you are. but you've never done anything malicious to me and i don't believe you are the type of person someone should mistrust or speak so negatively about.

i can 'vouch' for tao. i have not bought anything from tao directly but when i interviewed him for a magazine i sub-edit he responded to my questions very quickly and his responses were very good. i was impressed.

Can you track IPs? If you cannot on this blog, contact the admins on the other sites and see if they track IPs and if they will release them to you. It appears to be one person doing this, and you should be able to get a read from one of the sites at least. The stalker may have left his/her email somewhere along the way, and you can trace someone from emails. No one is anonymous on the internet. Do you have any computer savvy friends? They may be able to trace this guy/girl. My gut tells me that this is a female, possibly someone you knew. But I am totally guessing.

By the way, I don't know you at all, so I can't vouch for you. I stumbled across your blog, and I have read enough of your stuff to feel that you are a good guy, and I would have bought one of your shares if I weren't poor.

I am sad that the internet gets so mean. Is it me or have people gotten more vicious in the past five years or so? Every blog I visit nowadays leaves me with knots in my stomach.

Anyway, don't let this get to you. Know that there are good people -- even total strangers -- on the internet as well. I think seeing your past dredged up like this must be hurtful to you in many ways, so know that someone out there in cyber space is feeling angry on your behalf.

I asked Tao to send me a story for my unknown Australian magazine and he sent something funny and full of quality. Then we printed too many copies and the pay was almost nothing. He sent a drawing for another issue anyway, and a prize for a prize pack, and postage to Australia isn't cheap. I have more goods and money from Tao Lin than he has from me, and it should be the other way around, and I don't think he's rich, and he has never said anything about it.

Bullets made horrible banging and zipping noises all around my head inside the jeep. The maniac grinned as he leveled the shining greasy gray barrel of his rifle at my face. "Oh my God," screamed Melissa.

Quietly Tao Lin crept around the side of the vehicle and made his way toward where the maniac was poised ready to annihilate me.

Inside the jeep, Melissa shivered in terror as I sat frozen with the rifle barrel an inch from my nose. "You won't get away with this," I told the maniac.

"Perhaps not," said the maniac. "Does anyone ever get away with anything, really?"

Just then Tao Lin reached in the open passenger side window and with one deft motion slit the maniac's throat with a hunting knife. The hunting knife had been sitting in the flatbed of a pick-up truck parked next to the jeep. Fortunately.

Tao Lin stood looking at all the blood, blood on the maniac, blood on the knife, blood spurting on me and Melissa, blood on the cracked vinyl seats of the jeep. Tao Lin looked at the blood on his hands and blinked repeatedly.

"Oh my God," said Melissa.

"Oh my God," I said.

Tao Lin didn't say anything. He just kept standing there with the knife, looking at the blood. Finally he dropped the knife.

"Oh my God," said Melissa.

A siren grew louder as a squad car approached the scene. Soon Tao Lin's face was washed in the flashing red and blue lights.

I am grateful to Tao Lin for saving my life, and I believe that this account demonstrates his virtuous and trustworthy character.

another person asked if i wrote allegoryand i said if people saw a dolphinin the water they would not say"what is the significanceof that dolphin". i defeatedthat person also.

but tao lin wrote that not me.it could have been a poem called Q&ASESSION AFTER A POETRYREADING or a poem called BLOGPOST but it was just a blog post.

one day you come downstairsand the rug is gone insteadthere is an empty rectangleof dirt i vacuumedit because i won'tlive in squalor. actuallyi vacuumed it because mymother was comingto visit. if the dirtis too big i pick it upwith my hands.

i told you i would never usemy tongue for anything again ever.

I would never write a poem entitled WHY I WOULD LIKE TO BE TAO LIN if he didn't seem like such a nice young man. I endorse Tao Lin!

and here's mine. I live in Malaysia, where imported books cost a bomb.

I mentioned this to Tao Lin by email when I read one of his posts, because he said he would send a book to those who might not like his work or who couldn't afford it. I said I couldn't afford it. I've read his stories online and found them to be good.

the book came almost a month later. late probably because of going through the customs and whatnot. it was 'signed' with a picture of a hamster I think, and 5 Britney Spears stickers which I want to paste on random objects and take pictures of, although I do not have a camera.

While my comments were largely well balanced and factual, relfecting my view of the situation as I knew it at that time, they were integrated into and formed part of a highly negative, very personal, wide ranging and totally inappropriate string of personal attacks against Tao Lin. I was disgusted and appalled to have my comments even peripherally associated with such a low level of discourse.

I think any artist's work should stand on and be judged by it's own merits. Actions of the parents shouldn't be construed as indicative of the character of a son or daughter, especially so someone like Tao Lin who is clearly an adult, a talented adult, and finding his own way. And the shoplifting crap made me laugh out loud - Tao Lin after Abbie Hoffman - at worst political theatre, are people so conformist in the United States these days? I'm American but have lived in Europe since the mid 90's and find the US getting stranger and strange with every passing year.

I was and remain personally ashamed to see my own post included in such personal attacks - I would have removed it but I have no control over Tao Lin's blog.

I have since read some excerpts from Tao Lin's work, and have purchased two of his books via Amazon. I wish him all the best.

I bought a tshirt from Tao that has his face on it. He sent it to me in the mail with extra things, including part of EEEEE EEE EEEE with "hi leigh" written on it, and hamster drawings. I wear the tshirt approximately once a week.

Also, I invited Tao to read with me, and when he said he would I was so excited. He is sincerely polite and kind, and I admire his ambition and work ethic. I'm glad to call Tao my friend.

One time Tao Lin and Helen Kennedy were writing a book called "the very retarded giant moth" on a blog. I joined in and posted chapters in the comments section. My chapters were of course brilliant and took the book to a whole 'nother level. Then Tao Lin scrapped the blog and turned the book into a one-page sheet for the Ass Hi line. My chapters were excluded and i was not listed as one of the authors, even tho i helped foster the book's development via the interactive blog.

Another time i ordered two books from Tao and everything went fine. I even got a free original artwork, suitable for framing.

Just recently Tao put up a new online store, and had t-shirts marked as $2. At least, any rational person would have thought that was the price. So after i sent my paypal money, Tao wrote back saying i had gotten the price wrong, and that he wouldn't give a refund. So i emailed him back explaining my case, and he immediately refunded my $2 plus some cents, which i guess was a paypal fee but i'm not sure. Either way i made a profit on the transaction. The t-shirt price was then adjusted to $500.00

So at the end of the day, i'd say my experience has been Tao Lin is trustworthy, you just have to watch him very, very carefully. I would do business with him again (in my opinion!). However my "moth" writing experience showed me that collaborating artistically with him as an outsider to his inner circle and someone who is not a hot young college aged chick, is very risky business. I wouldn't do this again without a contract. In my opinion.

one time i was feeling very sad and saw a post on his blog about a free book. i e-mailed him and he was very nice and timely. he also sent me a package containing a book and some drawings! it made my week. he is a very sweet writer.

Mister Lin has worked a single day in his life. At a specific "private library," I had replaced him upon his resignation.

Tao had allowed me to sleep on the futon and had earlier in that evening drawn a fish and an inverted cross in a copy of "You Are a Little Bit Happier Than I Am" and gave it to me.

Maliciousness? Tao Lin is the sort of male who has something of cruel humor. It is humor and it is the kind in which he would not mind imposed onto him. This diminishes any strain of maliciousness. I think it is not a matter of malicious, it is a matter of thin-skinned individuals being drawn to him and then confused by the ill matched demeanor and humor.

At the end of 2007, in advance of my interview with Tao Lin for ANP Quarterly, Tao and I agreed to trade back issues of the magazine for a copy of one of his books. He sent the book several weeks before I send the magazines and was very patient during this time. In my experience, people who intend to rip you off have a paranoid anticipation of being ripped off themselves, and the fact that he was understanding during this delay suggests that he has a basic trust in other people that can only be achieved by being trustworthy himself.

Tao Lin writes things that make me feel less lonely & more ok with being alone, when I'm alone. in my worldview, that's the highest 'achievement' an artist can try for. he seems very diligent & like he 'follows up' on things. I am a good judge of character & I think Tao is an honest person more than he is a dishonest person. ok enough now, that's what I needed to say.